While checking my credit report last week I found a unpaid debt of approx $300 as the only black mark on my credit.

After contacting the filer of this debt, I discovered that it was the balance of a claim from "damages" from a move-out inspection from a house I rented through Century 21 in Wilmington in 2011.

The full story is in this thread message_topic.aspx?topic=618584.

Summary: Roommate and I moved into a house in 2010. Constantly had maintenance issues, that would slowly or never get resolved. We threatened to vacate due to HVAC problems and while the landlord has to pay for the maintenance I did file a complaint against the Century 21 maintenance manager due to poor customer service. During the move out, the inspector said there was no reason we wouldn't get most of our deposit back.

Roommate and I ended up getting a bill for an additional claim owing $300. I took over 50+ pictures and had detailed log of all the issues I had at the residence. Century 21 claimed they were an agent for the landlord and could not change the report without her permission. The landlord who lived out of town, in hindsight was going through bankruptcy, refused to budget. I attempted to take this to small claims against the landlord who made herself unavailable.


In the 3 years since then I was never actually contacted by a debt collections agency informing me that this had gone to collections. Is there any recourse for getting this off my record? I attempted to discuss the issue with Century 21 who maintained the same bullshit line that "they represent the owner and can not do anything without her permission." Yet the owner is no longer a client so they can no longer get a hold of her. Pretty much it's a catch-22

They told me yesterday that I should cut my losses and just pay the debt if I want it off my credit report. This is bullshit since I already "cut my losses" but not continuing to pursue the debt-ridden landlord for my deposit that she unjustly took. The house was actually foreclosed later that year. I still don't understand how Century 21 is shielded from all responsibility (I was told I could not take them to small claims during the initial incident) when it was their inspection report, they are the ones managing the property, and they are the ones attempting to collect the debt.

Is there anything I can do?

I still have my entire case file, I don't see why I can't sue Century 21 for defiling my credit report. Like seriously in this type of situation what stops [insert landlord here] from demanding any arbitrary $ figure of damages then disappearing behind the Century 21 shield that acts as their proxy. Century 21 supposedly is immune from legal action and legally they do not have to disclose the contact information of the owner. There has to be something protecting tenants on the books

[Edited on January 30, 2015 at 12:03 PM. Reason : k]

[Edited on January 30, 2015 at 12:08 PM. Reason : lk]

1/30/2015 11:59:31 AM

Tell them you are disputing the charges and want them to send you proof of the debt

1/30/2015 12:01:45 PM

you can challenge the debt with the reporting service and they have no incentive to re-report if the debt is paid.

1/30/2015 12:45:50 PM

I wouldn't challenge it, because everytime I did it re-opened the damn thing. 50 bucks and they say if I pay it disappears, but no it doesn't it shows as a collection that has been paid...or so I have been told. Dropped my score a damn 40 points.

1/30/2015 2:21:22 PM

Don't pay anything. Go online to each of the credit bureaus showing the delinquent item and open a dispute for it being invalid. If Century 21 doesn't respond to the credit bureau it will be removed. If they do respond, do another dispute, but this time copy all your supporting documentation and send it certified to each credit bureau.

^ Dispute it, repeatedly. All it takes is once for them not to respond and its gone. Once its off the bureau will not re-add it.




[Edited on January 30, 2015 at 2:43 PM. Reason : Also they can't change the dates on it. If they did and you have proof dispute and submit proof]

1/30/2015 2:32:35 PM

You want to dispute it. ^BlackJesus has it exactly right that if the credit bureaus dont get from both sides, they will default on the side that did submit documentation.

(Not a Lawyer) You might have an option of filing in claims court against C21 and the landlord. If neither shows up, you win, and you can take that to the credit bureaus as well.

[Edited on January 30, 2015 at 4:00 PM. Reason : .]

1/30/2015 3:59:15 PM

Quote :

" 50 bucks and they say if I pay it disappears, but no it doesn't it shows as a collection that has been paid...or so I have been told. Dropped my score a damn 40 points."

Pay for delete is essentially a gentleman's agreement. Nothing requires the collection agency or creditor to delete an account just because it's paid and the credit bureaus actually advise against doing so. Paying an old collection can be worse than just leaving it and letting it age off since it becomes newer and makes your score drop. Credit bureaus don't really care if it's paid or unpaid but it may help when getting a loan. No real benefit for the collection agency to verify the debt since it's paid, so disputing may get it knocked off.

1/30/2015 5:00:19 PM

If they can no longer reach the original creditor it must be deleted.

I went around and around about this over a $2000 entry on my wife's credit report from some now defunct property manager for a few months. You have to do it the right way and demand that they verify the debt. They (the reporting agencies) can not verify the debt of someone they can not reach.

Look up Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act online, there is tons of info on how to dispute incorrect items on your credit.

Honestly I would send a demand letter to the legal department of Century 21 outlining your position that they are in violation of the FCRA and threaten to sue them. They are not gonna fuck with you over $300, especially if you can document your position and the landlord is no longer their client.

You do not have to just dispute this item with the credit reporting agencies, you can also dispute it with whoever is reporting it. (And would be wise to hit them both) Making phone calls does nothing to preserve your rights, you need to do everything by us mail or certified mail with return receipt and keep copies and a log of your efforts.

1/30/2015 11:28:12 PM

Quote :

"Roommate and I ended up getting a bill for an additional claim owing $300. "

Did you just think this would magically go away? $300 is nothing compared with the excess money you'll pay because of higher interest rates in the future. If you're not getting a mortgage or any bank loans any time soon I think the mark will fall off in 2018.

2/1/2015 1:57:05 PM

^

The landlord was MIA, refused to make her self available for summons to dispute the charge in court. No future letter was sent from C21 about paying the past due balance and I was NEVER contacted by the debt collections agency once the debt was turned over in 2012. The last part is actually is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to have given that they reported the debt to the credit agencies but never once attempted collecting the debt from me.

Either way this is why i'm getting this resolved now to prevent any financial penalty for this debt on future loans.

2/1/2015 5:21:28 PM

Quote :

" refused to make her self available for summons"

Not sure what this means. People I know have just used a sheriff in the past.

2/1/2015 5:29:41 PM

I lived in Wilmington, her "known" address was in Asheville. C21 wouldn't disclose her location but I believe they had her asheville location as the official residence. The asheville house where she resided was forecloded. From my own PI work I had belief she was in Charlotte living in her parents house be had no proof. the landlords little sister actually went to high school with me, I found out through digging.

2/1/2015 10:41:49 PM

To add on here. I owe the city of Raleigh 50 dollars for a parking ticket I never knew I got....

I don't want to pay to remove right? Because it will still show? Can I still pay Raleigh? Or just dispute over and over?

2/3/2015 4:33:56 PM

^ Dispute that on your credit, it might get deleted.


I would just keep filing complaints against C21 for reporting the invalid information in violation of fair credit reporting act. FTC, NC Attorney General, BBB, NC Real Estate Commission, etc.

There are a ton of places you can go for consumer protection, you just have to have the balls and resourcefulness to use them. Also if C21 is the one reporting the information they are responsible for its accuracy, no exceptions, they can not pass this off on a client.

2/4/2015 3:46:35 PM

How was this resolveD?

2/10/2015 7:51:57 PM

I don't know about him...but everytime I have disputed that 50 dollar charge it has just jumped back on my report. I mean 50 bucks....what the hell. My friend did the same thing with Sprint for like 81 bucks and they finally I guess just said screw it it aint worth it.

2/10/2015 8:09:50 PM

So the dispute with Experian accomplished nothing. Apparently they just called the collections agency and C21 to verify that I was a customer and that I indeed owed a "debt".

I explained the situation to Experian but they don't "arbitrate" disagreements on valid accounts.

Looks like I need to go the FTC, BBB, NC Real Estate Commission, etc. I wrote a formal letter of complaint to the owner of the C21 Rental Compay with copies of the dispute letter I filed against the original move-out report.

I may just have to threaten or move forward with legal action. Seriously though some things are subjective on the report but other things are so black and white. i.e claiming the air filter was dirty at move-out and charging a $150 HVAC restoration repair fee eventhough I presented a receipt, had a picture of me placing a new air filter in the house on the day before move-out, and even threatened to vacate the property due to the system being underpowered for the square footage of the residence.

Complete assnine that C21 "can't negotiate without the owners consent"

2/13/2015 11:13:51 AM

Yeah I would start after C21. Look up a sample demand letter online.

You can outline your position and demand they remove the invalid charges and explain the next step will be legal action.

2/13/2015 11:55:16 AM

continuously dispute it. That shit works yo. I did some retarded shit with credit when I was 19-22 years old, and managed to get rid of all of it by continuously disputing it. It took a while but it worked.

2/14/2015 12:01:55 PM

it was so long ago it should leave your credit report soon anyway.

my wife had a medical bill that she had paid but for some reason was still being reported and she called the creditor and had them remove it, and her damn credit rating went DOWN because it was from a long time ago and it became "active" in the eyes of the credit gods.

2/14/2015 2:21:21 PM

^^ I have disputed stuff over and over again and its stupid 50 bucks and it still won't go away.

2/15/2015 9:40:21 PM

I received a call from C21 this morning basically to the effect of "we can't get you your deposit back but I think we should move forward and drops this. C21 will withdrawl its claim to the additional $360 if this acceptable".

Score +1 for the home team

2/16/2015 11:00:11 AM

Get it in writing.

^^ Find the address of the person in charge (CEO level) and send a certified sappy letter. Repeat that until you get what you want.

[Edited on February 16, 2015 at 4:25 PM. Reason : .]

2/16/2015 4:23:42 PM